How a five-year US special ops plan will transform the force | Defense News

The next five-year development and acquisition plan for U.S. Special Operations Command will be transformative, its commander said at the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference on May 22.

The plan will include ways to sunset legacy systems to make way for cutting-edge priorities that allow the force to stay ahead of complex and capable adversaries.

“In this rapidly evolving environment for the purpose of future combat development, we should consider the technology and platforms that today’s [special operations forces] use as legacy systems, already legacy systems whose sunset is nearly upon us,” Gen. Raymond Thomas said. “Incremental improvements to legacy systems will not give us the advantage we need for future successes.”

By this time next year, Thomas said he will have approved the five-year plan, also known as the Program Objective Memorandum, that will drive special operations force development for the next decade.